ATC140327: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture on its activities undertaken during the 4th Parliament (May 2009 – March 2014), dated 12 March 2014
Arts and Culture
Report of the
Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture on its activities undertaken during the
4th Parliament (May 2009 March 2014), dated 12 March 2014
Key highlights
1.
Reflection on Portfolio
Committee programme for the term and on whether the objectives of such
programmes were achieved
The Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture (the
committee) provides oversight to the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) including
Declared Cultural Institutions, Statutory Bodies, Constitutional Organisations
and Non Profit Organisations that fall within the ambit of the DAC. Throughout
the parliamentary term the committees activities involved oversight visits to
entities located in the Western Cape (July 2011 and June 2012), Eastern Cape
(August 2011), Free State (December 2011), Gauteng Limpopo and Northern Cape
(March 2012), and KwaZulu-Natal (July 2012).
The committee set itself an objective of
accelerating oversight to the DAC and provide much required synergy between the
work of the Department of Arts and Culture and ordinary citizens of South
Africa. Through its programmes the Portfolio Committee managed to become a
beacon of hope for ordinary citizens as it was inundated with letters, emails,
telephone calls, faxes from people who were concerned about the work and
programme of the Department and its entities. In a certain instances the
Portfolio Committee intervened proactively to institution where there were
serious allegations of maladministration and set up e standard of good
governance. Of the critical concern to the Portfolio Committee was the issue of
improving financial management within the Department of Arts and Culture and
its entities. The Portfolio Committee took a stance that all entities should
improve their financial controls and there should be consequences for
compliance failure. During the 2012/13 financial year a number of institutions
with clean audit increased while there was no disclaimer and only four
institutions received unqualified audit opinion. Among these was the great
achievement by Robben Island Museum. The Portfolio Committee worked in close
partnership with the DAC and Council of Robben Island Museum to ensure that the
institution is cleaned up and it focus on its key mandates.
2.
Committees focus
areas during the 4
th
Parliament
The portfolio committees focus during this
term was based on the following key areas:
-Scoping and overview of the Arts, Culture and
Heritage;
-Grounding the work of the sector to ensure
that communities participate and benefit optimally;
-Ensuring that financial compliance is
improved and there are clear consequences for transgressors;
-Providing a closer oversight to institutions
that regressed in their audit reports; and
-Development of enabling legislative
environment that supports the sector.
3.
Key areas for future
work
3.1
Throughout the term of the Portfolio Committee it became apparent that
the allocation of resources to the sector has not changed to address structural
legacy of apartheid. The forthcoming Portfolio Committee would have to work
closely with the department to ensure that additional resources are allocated
to institutions whose programming serve the majority of South Africans.
3.2
The issue of infrastructural maintenance is posing a risk to business
continuity of many institutions. In some cases the Department of Public Works
has not provided much required services. Therefore it is crucial that the
Portfolio Committees of Arts and Culture and Public Works need to find a way to
address this issue.
4.
Key challenges
emerging
4.1
During each Portfolio Committee minutes are taken as an official record
of the proceedings of the meeting. These minutes are required to be pre
circulated for the forthcoming committee meeting and then tabled, adopted and
signed by the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee. Throughout the term the
Portfolio Committee has struggled to ensure that it adopt minutes of the
previous meetings. In some cases minutes were adopted arbitrarily or adopted
without been read carefully because of insufficient time allocate to minutes
and internal committee operation.
4.2
Researchers often develop papers that are crucial in the understanding of
the sector. However, these research papers seldom reach the portfolio committee
as the committee is always inundated with scheduled meetings with external
stakeholders.
4.3
Pre-briefing by the Content Advisor and Researcher- In certain instances
as a team that supports the committee the researcher or content advisor develop
documents that inform key areas concerning the forthcoming presentation to the
Portfolio Committee. As these sometimes become technical in nature and more
scientific, members of the portfolio committee do not get sufficient time to
read through these documents as they are delivered to them on them a day before
the meeting, mainly evenings.
5.
Recommendations
5.1
It is recommended that minutes of the previous meeting be adopted at the
beginning of each meeting of the Portfolio Committee.
5.2
Research outputs to be integrated into the portfolio committee work as it
would enhance the committees understanding of the sector and result to a
better oversight.
5.3
The portfolio committee to preface each meeting with a pre-briefing
meeting which would provide with an opportunity to a researcher or a content
advisor to brief members about key areas that require attention during the
forthcoming meeting.
5.4
The DAC and a presenting entity to provide a presentation a week (seven
days) in advance in order to allow enough time for the presentation to be
processed by the committee staff.
1.
Introduction
1.1
Department/s and
Entities falling within the committees portfolio
a)
Department of Arts and Culture
The Department of Arts and Culture aims to contribute to sustainable
economic development, job creation and social cohesion though developing,
preserving and promoting South African arts, culture and heritage nationally
and internationally. It performs this task through the management of statutory
bodies that support the sector (National Arts Council, National Heritage
Council, National Film and Video Foundation, South African Heritage Resources
Agency, etc) theatres (Artscape, Market Theatre, State Theatre, etc), museums
(Iziko Museums, Ditsong Museum, Freedom Park, etc), library and heraldic
services, and nongovernmental organisations.
The Department derives its legislative mandate from the following
legislations:
-
The National Archives and Records Service of South Africa,
-
The Culture promotion Act,
-
Cultural Institutions Act,
-
South African Geographical Names Council Act,
-
The Heraldry Act, etc
b)
Entities:
No.
|
Name of Entity
|
Role of Entity
|
Location
|
1.
|
The
Pan South African Language Board
|
The
entity is responsible for the promotion and creation of conditions for, and
development and use of all official South African languages as spelled out in
section 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
|
Pretoria
and all provinces
|
2.
|
The
National Heritage Council of South Africa
|
In
terms of the National Arts Council Act, 1997, the National Arts Council
provides opportunities for people to practise and appreciate the arts. The
Council also promotes the general application of the arts in the community, fosters
the expression of a national identity by means of the arts, promotes freedom
in practising the arts, and gives historically disadvantaged people greater
access to the arts. Other functions include addressing historical imbalances
by providing infrastructure and promoting national and international liaison.
|
Pretoria,
Gauteng
|
3.
|
The
South African Heritage Resources Agency
|
SAHRA
coordinates the identification and management of the national estate in South
Africa.
|
Cape
Town, Western Cape
|
4.
|
The
National Film and Video Foundation
|
The
entity is tasked with the development, promotion and distribution of local
film and video products.
|
Pretoria,
Gauteng
|
5.
|
The
National Arts Council of South Africa
|
The
entity provides and encourages the provision of opportunities for persons to
practise the arts. Furthermore, the entity provides strategic financial
support to artist and arts organisations throughout South Africa.
|
Newtown,
Gauteng
|
6.
|
The
South African Library for the Blind
|
The
entity provides a national library information service to serve the blind and
print handicapped readers in South Africa.
|
Grahamstown,
Eastern Cape
|
7.
|
Blind
South Africa
|
Serve
the interests of Blind citizens.
|
Johannesburg,
Gauteng
|
8.
|
Business
Arts South Africa
|
The
entity raises funds to support artists.
|
Johannesburg,
Gauteng
|
9.
|
The
Market Theatre
|
The
Market Theatre is responsible for the provision of performing arts and
theatre show to the people of SA. It further provides the only state
sponsored photography school and workshops on industrial theatre.
|
Newtown,
Gauteng
|
10.
|
Windybrow
Theatre
|
The
entity provides performing arts and theatre production.
|
Hillbrow,
Gauteng
|
11.
|
The
Artscape
|
The
entity provides performing arts and theatre production.
|
Cape
Town, Western Cape
|
12.
|
The
State Theatre
|
The
entity provides performing arts and theatre production.
|
Pretoria,
Gauteng
|
13.
|
The
KwaZulu-Natal Playhouse
|
The
entity provides performing arts and theatre production.
|
Durban,
KwaZulu-Natal
|
14.
|
The
Performing Arts Centre of the Free State
|
The
entity provides performing arts and theatre production.
|
Bloemfontein,
Free State
|
15.
|
Die
Afrikaanse Taalmuseum
|
The
entity is a museum dedicated to the conservation and promotion of Afrikaans
language.
|
Paarl,
Western Cape
|
16.
|
Ditsong
Museums of South Africa
|
The
entity is a flagship that comprises various declared cultural institutions in
Pretoria and Johannesburg. These conserve, research, educate and exhibit
cultural and biological heritage.
|
Pretoria
& Johannesburg, Gauteng
|
17.
|
Engelenburg
House Collection
|
The
entity is a declared cultural institution
|
Pretoria,
Gauteng
|
18.
|
Freedom
Park
|
The
entity is a declared cultural institution and researches, conserves, educates
and exhibits cultural history of SA.
|
Pretoria,
Gauteng
|
19.
|
Iziko
Museums of South Africa
|
The
entity is a flagship that comprises various declared cultural institutions in
Cape Town. These displays, educated, conserve and researches cultural and
biological heritage of SA.
|
Cape
Town, Western Cape
|
20.
|
Luthuli
Museum
|
The
entity is a declared cultural institution. The museum educates, researches,
exhibit and conserves the life of Chief Albert Luthuli, the first African to
be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
|
KwaDukuza,
KwaZulu-Natal
|
21.
|
KwaZulu-Natal
Museums
|
The
entity is a declared cultural institution and displays, conserves and
researches cultural and biological heritage.
|
Pietermaritzburg,
KwaZulu-Natal
|
22.
|
National
Museum
|
The
entity is a declared cultural institution and researches, conserves and
displays natural heritage of SA.
|
Bloemfontein,
Free State
|
23.
|
Nelson
Mandela Museum
|
A
museum dedicated to the life of Nelson Mandela.
|
Mthatha,
Eastern Cape
|
24.
|
Robben
Island Museum
|
Conserves,
displays and educates about the heritage of Robben Island.
|
Cape
Town, Western Cape
|
25.
|
The
National English Museum Literacy Museum
|
A
museum dedicated to the conservation of English language but deals with
literary sector as part of transformation.
|
Grahamstown,
Eastern Cape
|
26.
|
Msunduzi
Museum
|
This
is a museum that conserves, promotes, researches and exhibit social history
of the people of KwaZulu-Natal. It has its origins to the Voortrekker/Church
of the vow narrative.
|
Pietermaritzburg,
KwaZulu-Natal
|
27.
|
War
Museum of the Boer Republics
|
This
is a museum that conserves the history of the Anglo-Boer War and aspects of
military history in South Africa.
|
Bloemfontein,
Free State
|
28.
|
William
Humphreys Art Gallery
|
William
Humphreys is an Art Gallery. It provides a platform for visual artistic
presentation and collects art works.
|
Kimberly,
Northern Cape
|
1.2
Method of work of the
committee (if committee adopted a particular method of work e.g. SCOPA.)
-
The committee monitored the financial and
non-financial performance of the Department and its entities to ensure that
national objectives are met.
-
The committee also processed and pass two
legislations.
-
It also facilitated public participation in
Parliament relating to issues of oversight and legislation.
1.3
Purpose of the report
The purpose of this report is to provide an account of the work of the Portfolio
Committee on Arts and Culture work during the 4
th
Parliament and to
inform the members of the new Parliament about key outstanding issues
pertaining to the oversight and legislative programme of the Department of Arts
and Culture and its entities.
This report provides an overview of the activities the committee
undertook during the 4
th
Parliament, the outcome of key activities,
as well as any challenges that emerged during the period under review and
issues that should be considered for follow up during the 5
th
Parliament. It summarises the key issues for follow-up and concludes with
recommendations to strengthen operational and procedural processes to enhance
the committees oversight and legislative roles in future.
2.
Key statistics
The table below provides an overview of the number of meetings held,
legislation and international agreements processed and the number of oversight
trips and study tours undertaken by the committee, as well as any statutory
appointments the committee made, during the 4
th
Parliament:
Activity
|
2009/10
|
2010/11
|
2011/12
|
2012/13
|
2013/14
|
Total
|
Meetings held
|
9
|
N/A
|
33
|
34
|
28
|
104
|
Legislation processed
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
Oversight trips undertaken
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
Study tours undertaken
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
International agreements processed
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
Statutory appointments made
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
3.
Stakeholders:
None
4.
Legislation and
Public Hearings
The following pieces of legislation were referred to the committee and
processed during the 4
th
Parliament:
Year
|
Name of Legislation
|
Tagging
|
Objectives
|
Completed/Not Completed
|
2011/12
|
The
South African Languages Bill [B23 -2011]
|
Sec 75
|
To
regulate and monitor the use of official languages by national government departments.
|
Completed
|
2013/14
|
South African Language
Practitioners Council Bill [B14-2013]
|
Sec 75
|
To provide for the
establishment of the South African Language Practitioners Council; to
provide for the objects, powers, duties and functions of the Council; to
determine the manner in which the Council is to be managed, governed, staffed
and financed; to regulate training of language practitioners; to provide for
control of the accreditation and registration of language practitioners; and
to provide for matters connected therewith
|
Completed
|
5.
Oversight trips
undertaken
The following oversight
trips were undertaken:
Date
|
Area Visited
|
Objective
|
Status of Report
|
29-31 March 2011
|
Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga Province
|
To ensure entities are carrying out legal
mandates
|
Adopted
|
26-28 July 2011
|
Western Cape
Province- Robben Island, Paarl and Cape Town CBD
|
To ensure that
entities were carrying out their legal mandates i
|
Adopted
|
3-4 August 2011
|
Eastern Cape
Province Umtata and Grahams town
|
To ensure that
entities were carrying out their legal mandates
|
Adopted
|
4-9 December 2011
|
Free State and Northern
Cape Province
|
To ensure that
entities were carrying out their legal mandates
|
Adopted
|
19-20 June 2012
|
Oversight to Darling and Clanwilliam ,
Western Cape Province
|
To understand the challenges that the Khoi
and San people experience in terms of language and Arts
|
Adopted
|
31 July 2012 till 2 August 2012
|
Oversight visit to the KwaZulu- Natal
Province
|
To ensure that
entities were carrying out their legal mandates
|
Adopted
|
6.
Study tours
undertaken
The Portfolio Committee did not undertake any study tour during this
term. It is crucial that the Portfolio Committee should conduct a study tour in
order to benchmark the state of artistic service delivery in South Africa with
other countries especially from other African countries in the East and West
Africa.
7.
International
Agreements:
The Portfolio Committee processed the following international agreements:
Date referred
|
Name of International Agreement
|
Objective
|
Status of Report
|
Date of enforcement
|
14 August 2013
|
1999 Second
Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property
in the event of Armed Conflict.
|
To provide framework for the protection of
cultural property in museums and any other heritage related sites in the
event of armed conflict.
|
Adopted by the National Assembly
|
26 August 2013
|
14 August 2013
|
1995 UNIDROIT
Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects.
|
The convention provides framework for the prevention of illegal
trafficking of stolen cultural objects.
|
Adopted by the National Assembly
|
26 August 2013
|
14 August 2013
|
2001 UNESCO
Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.
|
The convention provides framework for the protection of underwater
heritage in South Africa.
|
Adopted by the National Assembly
|
26 August 2013
|
14 August 2013
|
African Union
Charter for African Cultural Renaissance.
|
It creates a platform for African countries to share cultural
expertise and promotes values of cultural renaissance.
|
Adopted by the National Assembly
|
16 October 2013
|
a)
Issues for follow-up
The 5
th
Parliament should consider
following up on the following concerns:
·
The
1999 Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for
the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed provides systematic
mechanisms to protect cultural items in the event of armed conflict. In the
case of South Africa the Castle of Good Hope is both a military base as well as
a museum site. This combination provides a threat to cultural items that are
based at the Castle as they can be attacked during the time of war or military
invasion. The Departments of Arts and Culture and Defence and Military Veterans
should find a suitable solution to this matter that is in the best interests of
cultural property.
8.
Statutory
appointments
The following
statutory appointments were processes:
Date
|
Type of appointment
|
Period of appointment
|
Status of Report
|
07 August
2013
|
PanSALB
|
Five years
|
Adopted
|
18 October 2011
|
NCLIS
|
2 years
|
Adopted
|
06 November 2013
|
NCLIS
|
2 years
|
Adopted
|
9.
Interventions
The Portfolio
Committees intervention is mainly at an advisory level in instances where both
the accounting and executive bodies are not perceived to be performing their
functions optimally. The Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture intervened at
PanSALB, SAHRA and Robben Island Museum. The level of intervention differed
based on the proportion of the challenges institutions were facing. In the case
of SAHRA the Committees intervention was to the extent that it recommended the
termination of the employment of the then Chief Executive Officer. While Robben
Island Museums intervention differed as the Committee worked closely with the
Council and Senior Management to improve organisational and financial
management within the organisation. PanSALBs intervention was mainly statutory
as the Committee found that the Board was the cause of institutional
dysfunctionality and it recommend that the Board should be dissolved.
Furthermore, it conducted interviews and related processes for the appointment
of the new Board, as required by the law.
10.
Recommendations
The following key
issues should be taken into consideration by the 5
th
parliament:
-
The DAC to establish a flagship in the Free State/Northern Cape and
KwaZulu-Natal;
-
The DAC to develop a framework for the establishment and management of
legacy projects;
-
The DAC to develop a funding model that addresses historical imbalances;
-
Engage the SABC concerning the development of the music policy that is
bias towards local artists; and
-
To develop a framework for the
performance of the Moral Regeneration Movement.
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